Frankly, a must-watch if you a fan of heist films, gangster movies, and Stanley Kubrick. Shockingly violent for its time with a cast of expendable ne'er-do-goods and a classic vixen played to the tee by Marie Windsor, this one has it all. A clown mask used in a heist? Yes, decades before The Dark Knight movie or the Payday videogame this one had that too, and that mask in the promo trailer is an eerie sight if you a fan of those later works.
The behind the actor shots and other cinematography in this movie remind me of Kubrick's later films, and the overall film has a familiar and almost modern feel to it because of the camera work. I was also reminded of Dr. Stranglove as well.
The entire movie covers the plot an execution of the heist, and how things go from bad to worse when loose lips seal their fates. There are so many undesirable characters pulled into this caper, and this highlights the darker world typical of Noir. Nobody has anyone's bet intentions at heart, and the criminal underworld is a dark, dark place where no one can be trusted - not even your friends.
The mistrust in this gang of no-goods reminds me a little of the arctic crew in John Carpenter's The Thing, where the atmosphere of paranoia and suspicion provides a good portion of the show and also the fun. It is a fitting reminder of the Cold War and the witch-hunt days of Tinsel Town as well, and it also speaks to those times fittingly.
The film holds up well today because of the interactions between the cast members. This is basically a series of "people locked in a room" scenes, with a wonderful series of shifting motivations and relationships to fuel the fire. The ever rising bar of paranoia and distrust ratchets the tension as the ill-fated heist approaches, and then true to the genre, the pasts of these no-goods catches up to them, one-by-one.
The ending feels a bit silly to me, but it does highlight a sort of uncaring world where the smallest thing can doom a perfectly laid plan. It felt a little deus-ex-machina to me, like the hand of god punishing what would otherwise be a perfect getaway. The fact this isn't the character's past coming back to haunt him takes this film a little out of the classic Noir model, but it doesn't really detract from an otherwise stunning series of events and performances from the cast.
Marie Windsor plays the vixen wonderfully, and Elisha Cook plays an almost cuckolded husband of hers. She is an unhappy gold-digger and there is this palatable sexual tension between them that is a must see, and an outcome from this frustration that fits the classic Noir mold. If you are looking for a classic manipulated male and the depths he can be driven to, this is a great film and these two tear into these roles with glee and intensity.
The shootout between the gang members is shocking, sudden, and brutal, and reminds me of Kubrick's later works like Full Metal Jacket. I have never seen so many central characters taken out in such a short pried of time in a movie from this era, and the violence and suddenness of it all makes this scene feel like something out of a Tarantino movie, a thoroughly modern feeling for me. The aftermath is used again later, which is again shocking for a movie of this time, and further highlights the shockingly brutal. lasting, uncaring, and sudden violence Noir stories should have.
Noir stories are not nice places, and there is no character protection for anybody.
If you are writing a Noir style heist novel, this movie is a must-see for inspiration and feeling. The fun of a great heist novel is the gang of no-goods from various walks of life, and the outright self-centered and greedy motivations of them all - along with the distrust and paranoia each one of them brings to the table. The supporting cast also matters a lot, with "the people who people know" providing an extra layer of chaos and distrust to the mix.
The mastermind tries to hold this plan all together, but one-by-one, the really crooked thugs start to show up, and things go all to hell. Part of the fun of heist movies is watching criminals like this screw-up, stab each other in the back, and fail because there is no honor among thieves. There is almost a puritanical and divine retribution theme here, where "crime does not pay" and the punishment is not handed out by the law, but by the gang's own greedy and blood-covered hands. When the time comes, justice catches up to these bad guys, and the music swells and the screen goes dark, leaving us to wonder.
A great film from one of the great creators of our time, and one of my all-time favorites.
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